Move over killer Santas—it’s the Krampus’ turn now

Krampusnacht is the bacon of holidays, having risen from an obscure Alpine tradition to a category on Etsy in a relatively short amount of time. But the Yuletide devil’s greatest trick yet is greenlighting two competing Krampus horror-comedies, causing the possibility of a sequel to the reboot of Silent Night, Deadly Night to recede ever further into the distance.

As we reported last month, the first is Kevin Smith’s Anti-Claus, starring Haley Joel Osment in an as-yet-unrevealed role. And now it’s been joined by Krampus, to be directed by X2 and Superman Returns scribe Michael Dougherty and co-written by Todd Casey and Zach Shields. Dougherty, who previously worked with producers Legendary Pictures on Trick ‘R’ Treat(and is currently developing Trick ‘R’ Treat 2)tells Deadline, “Christmas has been invading Halloween for far too long. It’s time to return the favor.” Meanwhile, in a dirty studio apartment in Hollywood, someone drags the screenplay for Santa’s Slay 2 into the trash and presses “Empty.”